Recent statistics show that the number of cellular telephone users in the United States alone is about 203 million. The emergence of the cellular telephone and portable digital assistants (“PDA”s) as widely embraced technologies has led to the emergence of ancillary markets, such as the market for cellular telephone accessories. As more and varied cellular devices reach the market, the need for smaller and more streamlined accessories has developed.
Additionally, mobile communication devices, such as cell phones, have become increasingly compact, having a length and width only a few inches and a depth of less than an inch. Due to this decrease in size, some people prefer to carry their mobile communication devices on their person or accessories. For example, men often carry their cell phones on a belt about their waist and women often clip their cell phones to shoulder straps for handbags. As such, various clips for cell phones have been devised. One form of belt clip requires that the cell phone itself have a certain attachment that interlocks with a complementary attachment on the belt clip. These types of cell phone belt clips include a first clip engageable with the person's belt and a complementary second clip coupled to the cell phone case which engages the first clip. This form of belt clip, however, can be complicated to use since it typically consists of multiple separate pieces and the user is required to place a first clip on his belt before the cell phone is attached to the belt, making accessing the device difficult.
Another form of belt clip is a clip assembly permanently welded to the back of the cell phone and/or cell phone case. This requires that the device case be fabricated along with the clip assembly. This kind of clip assembly typically includes a base element that is permanently affixed to a prefabricated a locking mechanism, which is coupled to a clip. Because the locking mechanism is prefabricated, the clip that is affixed to the lock must also be prefabricated along with the device case, to appropriately mate with the lock. This makes the overall device case large, and the riveting process difficult, because the clip impedes affixation of the base element to the device case. This drawback limits the type of clip that can be affixed to the base element and further limits any desired range of motion of the clip based on the particulars of the device case. Further, the cumbersome nature and size of these clips makes it more difficult to carry the cell phone in a pant pocket or a small purse.
It is also noted that many clips include metallic components. These metallic components can interfere with the transmission and reception of radio signals from the mobile device, thereby impeding the performance of the mobile device. Also, clip devices that contain metal components are known to have adverse effect on the specific absorption rate (“SAR”) of wireless signals by the human body as a result of amplification of the SAR levels. Thus, there is a need to overcome the problems with the prior art, and more particularly for a low profile rotatable device case clip that is fabricated independently of the device case to allow for greater versatility in clipping the device case to a desired item. There is also a need for a device case clip that does not adversely affect radio signals emitted or received from the mobile device.